Reply: Why I God Mode

This is a response to Professor Beej’s In Defense of God Mode. In his post, he discusses the reasoning behind his wish for a God Mode in WoW. It’s a topic that I’ve reflected on very often recently, especially because of my son’s obsession fascination with the Lich King. While going through the quests in Wrath, we’ve often been faced with the big LK himself and my son always got excited about it. “Omg! Kill him! Mom! You’ve gotta kill him! He’s so BAD!” He always gets that dejected look when I tell him that he’s not a kill-able NPC, until I add a little “yet” that always brightens his face. “Ok, ok, just tell me when you can kill him ok? I want to see that!”

With the release of ICC, and the news that we would be fighting LK in the end, he was ecstatic! Sadly, I’m not sure if we’ll (my guild I mean) get to fight him, let alone kill him. I have often wished that Blizz would, at the very least, give us an option to just pop in there without the hassle of all the other prerequisites and just have a go at the big guy, for my kid’s sake at the very least. Even if there’s no loot, no rewards, I just want a chance to poke that guy right in the eyeball and see my kid’s face when I do it!

I digress, the question that was asked was:

So tell me now, do you God Mode in any games?  If so, what makes you do it and why?

Let me start by saying that yesterday was wicked stressful for me. I haven’t really been able to play WoW for weeks, I haven’t had a moment of daylight to myself (i.e. no kids) in almost a month, and I’ve been having great difficulty just sitting down and writing anything for even longer. There’s more of course but it’s not that relevant. Needless to say, things have been piling up and yesterday was a boiling point for me. I knew exactly what I needed to do. As soon as the kids went to bed, I mixed up a nice big drink (or three), loaded up Fallout 3 and entered God Mode. ( ~tgm in case you were wondering )

The biggest thing about Fallout 3, for me, is the story. I love, love, love the theme and storyline of the game. It’s a topic that has always interested me and the developers did such an amazing job of creating this world that, despite it’s lack of clean water, you almost never want to leave. Also, who doesn’t also love, love, love shooting mutated humanoids in the face or causing radioactive ants to explode? The mechanics of the game though, i.e. limited ammunition and resources, negative effects of carrying too many items, and the whole dying thing… yeah, they’re not so helpful when all you really need is an escape from reality for a few hours and the quickest route to shooting something virtual. These are what makes the game truly awesome when you’re “playing it right” but when you’re not, they’re not so fun.

Hence, the god mode. I’m not playing for the joy of accomplishing the scene goals. I’m not playing for the fulfillment of beating the game. I’m playing in God Mode for the pure joy of escaping into this alternate reality, exploring the immense landscape of a world gone wrong, and of course, the emotional release of being able to wreak carnage on mutated life forms without the worry of making mistakes that could just frustrate me even further. The last thing I need in an already stressful time is the added stress of “doing it right.”

Fallout 3 God Mode is my secret little sanctuary where I go for a pure escape and emotional release. It’s good to be God sometimes.

Hey Dweebist

Hey Dweebist, like, stop reading my mind and stuff. I’m pretty much brain dead this morning so instead of some pretentious witty post about how awesome I am, you get a link to a blog I recently started following. Love this guy!

Get Out of My Head!

Either Way, I Win!

An hour ago I said I was logging off to make time for a snack before I try to attend this webinar on the Digital Roundtable. As you can tell, I’m easily distracted. I just finished reading Nathan Bransford’s post in which he details the status of the queries he received while he was on vacation.

There’s no real point to this post except to say that three-days-ago-me would have read this post and then curled up in a corner and cried, despairing at the hard evidence in front of me that I may never be a published writer.

Today-me, action-me, reads this post and says “Hey, I can be in the 1% or I can be in the other 99%. No matter what, I choose to write for the love of writing and because of that, either way, I win!”

Now, I’m off to make sure I don’t miss this webinar while my stomach is growls like an angry momma bear!

Note to self: Less web surfing, more life sustaining nutrients!

Status Update: Action Goals

As I said previously, my word of the year is Action! How have I been living up to that so far?

Uh… um… okay, okay, I have actually gotten a little work done in that area.

First, I got rid of my “to read later” bookmarks. This was not helping me and was just giving me twice the work to do. Then I tweaked some settings in my Google Reader a bit so that I can’t just click the buttons and move on. This way, I’m forced to see that big bold text saying “Help! Help! You haven’t read me yet!” On top of that, I’m actually spending more time reading the information instead of just skimming it, which is, well, actually pretty nice.

My next goal in that department is to start commenting more! Honestly, I am subscribed to so many blogs out there and yet I don’t actually interact with any of them anymore. I know how great it feels when I get comments here on my blog so it’s selfish of me to just take, take, take and never leave anything behind. Even if it’s just a simple “thanks for the post”, I’m endeavoring to at least leave a mark behind to let people know I appreciate the effort they put into posting, even if I don’t have the energy or brainpower to contribute to the discussion.

For a quick view of just how many blogs I actually subscribe to, here’s a snapshot of just two of the many topics I’m interested in and follow news/blogs of:
Gaming (71 Feeds)
Writing (76 Feeds)

I’ve also started going through all my “profile” areas (social networking, news subscriptions, etc) and asking myself “How is this helping me?” and “How is this hurting me?” Nothing major in that department, just taking stock in how “out there” I am and trying to get a better idea of how others are viewing my online presence. So far I’ve determined that I’m just some random chick that likes to ramble about random crap. At the very least, I plan to streamline my blog topics so they fall under one of these three categories: Kids, Gaming, and Writing, with a little “random ranting” thrown in, because hey, who doesn’t like a random rant? huh? Those are still three very different and diverse topics which should probably be separated, according to the “how to blog properly” critics, but you know what? I don’t really care. Those are the three most important topics to me so those are what I’m going to focus on.

Today’s Internet Award Goes To…

Today I did something I hardly ever do and I didn’t even realize I was doing it until it was over. I usually never get into the “I’m a PC” vs “I’m a Mac” arguments. I’ve never been a fan-boy either way. Technically, I’m on the PC side. All of my computers are PCs with Windows. I don’t own a Mac, iPhone, iTouch or any of the sort. I started my day planning to just sit with my coffee and watch the #DBW convention while wishing I could be there in person. Instead, I got sidetracked and completely drawn in by the iPad unveiling. By the time the press release was over, I had switched sides and was actively spamming the Mac verse.

I didn’t mean to get caught up in the dramatic event. It just happened. I went into it with a skeptical eye and still ended up coming out of it with an eye of wonder. I felt like I had just witnessed the first moon landing. I went as far as to say “Apple has won the freaking Internet!” Over the next few days, you’re going to see every gizmo and gadget site talking about the iPad until it makes you want to gag. But I just want to say this: It’s amazing to be sitting home on a random Wednesday morning and witness something that I just KNOW is going to change the future of technology.

The iPad isn’t perfect and it’s not going to be for everyone. But you can’t deny that it’s a tool that in the near future will change the way you live, either directly or indirectly. If you don’t believe me, look around you. How many people have iPhones? Netbooks? Laptops? Kindles? How long did it take before these things became common place? How long until once one got released, changes resulted from their invention?  I get about 2 text messages a day on average from family members that are under the age of 30, we usually chat on facebook and twitter, texts have slowed dramatically. After the press release today, I got 16… yes, sixteen messages. Kids are using their iPhones (from school btw, tsk tsk) to keep up with the news and when this was released, they started going crazy.

Whatever side you’re on, whether you think this is good or bad, Apple just won the Internet, for today at least. I would hope that someone, somewhere, is going to look at this and say “I can do better” and when they do, you’re going to see an insane increase and improvement in technology in our future. Just putting it out there, because in a few years I want to be able to look back and say “Bam! Told ya so, linky linky!”

In case you missed it: Gizmodo Live Blog and Engadget live Blog

2010 Word of the Year: ACTION

I read Chris Brogan’s post back at the beginning of the new year detailing his 3 Words for 2010. I thought it was a great idea but I never got around to coming up with my own. Last week Joanna over at Confident Writing discussed her thoughts on A Word to Last the Year and I felt inspired to do the same, but I just never got around to it.  When I read Christine Kane’s discussion on a Resolutionary War, I thought about how awesome that was, but then moved on and never got around to doing that either.

I had a little round of insomnia again last night so I had a bit more spare time to spend with Google Reader and my coffee this morning and these little things kept popping up. Topics I came across that were interesting to me were added to my “to research later” list. Blog posts that required more than a cursory glance got added to my “read later” bookmark folder. My back started aching, as it does 24/7 now, and the thought occurred to me that being up at 3am would be an awesome time for some Yoga. If I went just a little further and spent some time on the treadmill, I could then take a shower and probably even get a couple more hours of sleep before the kids woke up. But I’m tired, the coffee is warm and delicious, and so I dismiss the idea and kept browsing my feed reader — I’ll do it later.

My days are filled with a million “I’ll do it later” moments. When I think about the mental road blocks that are keeping me from fulfilling my goals, I usually think about the big things, like fears, that get in the way of my own personal progress. However, this morning I asked myself, “Self, fears aside, what’s the next step in moving forward?” The simple fact is, I’ve spent so much time procrastinating one thing or another, that it’s become a soft, warm security blanket — procrastination is my go-to instinctual action. Look at my lists that I love so much. If I’m up at 3am reading blogs, why do I need to add a blog to a “read later” list? Read it now! Take action!

I think it’s easier to share fears and pain with people than it is to admit publicly your true flaws, like the fact that you’re (well, I’m) a lazy cow. But look at me, telling the world how freaking lazy I am. So, when it comes down to it, my 2010 Word of the Year is ACTION! I have lots of ideas and I know what I need to do to improve my life in nearly every area. All I have to do is stop thinking like a “do it later” kinda girl and start doing like a “do it now” kinda woman.

So, next time you see me, give me a nudge, help me out. I could use all the encouragement I can get.

No excuses, no fear, just action.

Can’t spell my own name!

Boy was I surprised today to find out that I don’t know how to spell my own name. I mean, it’s crazy, I have a SS card, a state driver’s license, and heck, even a military ID card that all spell it the way I *thought* it was spelled. However, according to the genius at the Social Security Administration, I’ve been wrong all this time.

Today started pretty well. I got some work done around the house and then sat down to study over our 2009 taxes. A few hours later, I’m sitting over a job well done, imho, and pressing “submit” to have that puppy sent off to the IRS. You know how it is when you e-file, it can take a few days sometimes before you know if they’ve approved it or not.

Imagine my chagrin when I got an email a few hours later that said they disapproved my paperwork. Ah crap! I knew I should have had my mom do the taxes this year! I suck at math! But wait, what’s this? Why did they decline it? What the crap? “You’re SSA information doesn’t match the IRS information” (paraphrasing, this is a rant, not a scientific study).

So, guess who got to sit on hold for 30 minutes waiting for the SSA customer support to help them out? Uh, yeah, ME. First of all, let me just re-write what I fb’d earlier today:

“Automated ‘voice activated’ phone services were created as social experiments to see how long it takes for people go on murder rampages after hearing ‘I’m sorry, i didn’t understand what you said, please repeat’ without any option to go back to the main menu or talk to a representative. OMFG.”

Gah! Seriously, I hate voice activated customer support lines. I’ve NEVER had an experience with one that was pleasant. EVER.  So, I finally get to talk to a real person and you’re not going to believe what she tells me — “Ma’am, computers can’t lie and they are always accurate.”

I mean, really? Really? Are people REALLY that stupid? Have we really gotten to a point in our civilization that despite reason and common sense, if a computer screen says “water is pink” then by fux sake, all water MUST be pink?  This idiot’s reasoning was that despite my printed SSA card, my valid state driver’s license, and my military freaking ID, the spelling of my name is inaccurate because HER computer says so.

… I’ve run out of words.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Reflections on Fear

Something that few people know about me is that I suffer from a large number of rational and irrational fears. I have the obvious ones that some people know about. Such as (and I wish I could say this was one of my normal fears), I have an immense fear of non-chlorinated bodies of water, for many reasons. I’m terrified of being eaten, even nibbled on, by things that go bump in the water. I have a seriously debilitating fear of drowning and I also have the fear of the unseen (germs, bacteria, etc) that permeate these types of water masses. I can be brought to my knees by a puddle if given the right visualization of what that puddle might hold. However, there are also fears that I hold close to my heart that I don’t usually share with others. Read below the “more” if you’re interested in some inner demons kinda talk.

Hey Mom, Gaming is the New Knitting

My glass-is-half-full syndrome seems to have run it’s course for the day. However, instead of counter-acting all those positive vibes with something a little negative, which is my usual way, I’ll stick to the somewhat positive side and provide some commentary on my new slogan. This thought process is brought to you by the non-gamer friend that had that nerve to say “seriously, you sit around and play video games?” as she’s sitting at her house scrap-booking the day away, then asks me why I never picked up knitting or something. (love ya sweety but you knew I was gonna blog about it)

Excuse Me?

I didn’t intend to spam you all today but Shannon Stacey wrote a rant today about Walmart Shoppers (funny read, as in, you there! go read it!) and it reminded me of something else that happened this week. If you follow me on Facebook, you maybe read that I went to the grocery store for the first time in over a year, my husband is awesome and takes that bullet for me too many times to count. On top of that, I had to take all three kids with me!

If you put “stressful” and “chaotic” in a room and they made a baby, that word still wouldn’t be strong enough to accurately describe the situation. Lucas wants to buy “everything”. Taylor wants to go down each row, twice, even though we have nothing to buy in that row. Loralei cried, literally, the entire time. She was distraught over having to sit next to Taylor in the cart, “Move, move, no touch. Waaaaaaahhhhh” the whole freaking time! Grr! Rawr!